Message from the Mayor and CEO

Our Fellow Philadelphians:

In Philadelphia, poverty is a pervasive, corrosive problem. It takes a toll on our entire city: seniors, families and children alike. Persistent poverty limits the potential of thousands of our citizens, results in lost tax revenue and increases the expense of city services. Shared Prosperity Philadelphia is a critical first step in our comprehensive strategy to address the devastating impact poverty has on our city. And we all have a role to play.

Shared Prosperity Philadelphia builds a foundation for systemic, long-term change in how the City assesses, confronts and reduces poverty to create a thriving Philadelphia for everyone. We cannot build a thriving city for all residents unless we act to prevent the crippling legacy of poverty from being passed to another generation. Shared Prosperity Philadelphia focuses on maximizing the impact of every federal, state and philanthropic anti-poverty dollar coming into the City while pursuing additional funding. To aid collaboration among the many individuals, organizations and agencies involved in fighting poverty, it promotes a philosophy of “collective impact” that establishes a common agenda, a shared measurement system and continuous communication.

The Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) will play a key role in this effort. The City launched CEO by executive order in January 2013 with an ambitious goal: to organize and implement a coordinated approach to reduce poverty, an approach that could begin quickly and extend beyond this Administration.

We thank the nearly 200 stakeholders and experts who participated in the meetings, focus groups, surveys, and interviews that went into creating this action plan. The participants, who will be essential to the implementation of Shared Prosperity Philadelphia, included consumers and providers of anti-poverty services, academic experts, officers of philanthropic foundations, members of the CEO Oversight Board and Staff, deputy mayors and commissioners, and representatives of City Council.

With this plan, Philadelphia can draw upon a wealth of assets in our vibrant neighborhoods, non-profit sector, businesses, philanthropic and research communities. We can make a difference. We invite all of you to take the next steps with us.